The invention relates generally to welding systems, and, more particularly, to wire feed speed control systems and methods.
Welding is a process that has increasingly become ubiquitous in various industries and applications. While such processes may be automated in certain contexts, a large number of applications continue to exist for manual welding operations. Such welding operations rely on a variety of control schemes to ensure the supply of welding consumables (e.g., wire feed, shielding gas, etc.) is provided to the weld in an appropriate amount at the desired time. For example, metal inert gas (MIG) welding relies on a proper wire feed speed to prevent weld splatter and arc outage.
To ensure that the wire feed speed is properly set for a given welding application, so-called “auto-set” welding systems have been developed. These systems provide greatly enhanced convenience by automatically setting certain parameters, such as wire feed speed, depending upon a simple user selection of a type of welding wire being used. However, such systems are often limited by substantial tolerances between motors on comparable spool guns. Such limitations may lead to welding under non-optimal conditions due to wire feed speeds that are outside the optimal range for the given welding operation, owing to the natural tolerances of the wire drive motors (and related components). Moreover, in such auto-set arrangements, and in conventional systems where an operator sets the desired wire feed speed, there is typically little or no ability to “fine tune” the wire feed speed actually obtained. Accordingly, there exists a need for systems that address such shortcomings.